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CatH Post 68
In CatH Post 69 Clear and Kimleigh are fleeing the planet Indra aboard Hoopa as a massive space vessel has emerged to destroy the world. With them is Kara Pashna aboard his transport ship ''The Indra''. Kimleigh uses her powers to send his ship into hyperspace when he falters with panic and regret. Their delay, however, costs Kimleigh her life as her very being is drained by the great machine that sucks up Brethrain and breaks up the planet - killing everyone that ever lived on that world. At the centre of the circular machine Clear saw a giant red-skinned being that seemed to be the epicentre of the white-hole. Clear is knocked unconscious when the planet breaks up and later awakes aboard the vessel itself, which is under the command of Ameryl of The Imperium. Post The God Killer Hoopa and The Indra are both into orbit as swiftly as possible. Whatever doom the machine plans for the planet below seems to be being savoured. Clear is piloting and glances out the window at The Indra. It's much bigger than her own little starfighter but is looks like a lot of boxes tethered together. Strangely, in Clear's thoughts, the engines of the ship are perched upon the length of the rectangular ship, meaning it stands upright as it flies through space. She can see the cockpit is a big glass box in the middle. Quite a weak-point, Clear muses. But it's not a combat ship. It just needs to get Kara Pashna and his wares away from here. Clear: '"Ready to jump, Pashna?" ''They just hear him stammer in return, evidently trying to remember the sequence of hyperdrive startup in the midst of his fear and loathing. Clear shakes her head. '''Clear: "Kimleigh, can you--?" The Indra suddenly jumps from view, zipping out in the blink of an eye. Kimleigh smirks. Kimleigh: "Done." Clear looks again at the readings of the huge ship outside. It appears as big at Sol, the sun of the Sol System, and is looming over the tiny Indran red dwarf. It's a huge ring of black metal-like material with a completely hollow centre. Not hollow. A great mass lurks at the dead centre of the ring, a mass greater than the sun, and yet it's entirely invisible. Or comparatively tiny. She zooms in the screen. Clear: "Is that--?" Kimleigh: "A woman?" A red-skinned woman with six arms lies curled in the fetal position. Unconscious. Unmoving. Clear: "What is going on here? Where did it come from?" Kimleigh: "Nowhere. It came from nowhere. Obviously it must have come from some other universe or realm or something. But it's one not even the High Empire has on record." Clear: "I don't like this. Ready to jump?" Kimleigh: "There should be enough energy left from last jump but I'll do the hon--wow!" There's a terrible boom and, before their eyes, the planet Brethrain begins to disintegrate. It becomes stretched out, looking oval-shaped, pulled in towards a white-hole that has opened up at the centre of the ring. Clear checks. The red-skinned woman is gone. A red-skinned woman on the eve of destruction - never meant Clear at all. It meant this six-armed being. Kimleigh: "What in the name of Emp is happening? A planet killer? But the plan--ow! OW!" Clear: "Are you okay?" Kimleigh: "Jump now! Jump--" The ship lurches as Kimleigh activates the hyperdrive, but it only moves a few metres in an instant as Kimleigh's body disintegrates in the back seat. Clear, who bashed her head, bleary-eyed tries to climb over her own seat to grab Kimleigh, trying to pull her back into the ship as she dissolves in pieces through the rear of Hoopa. Clear is screaming but her ears are dulled by the concussion of smashing her head. She fumbles with Kimleigh's outstretched fingers. Then she has nothing. Clear climbs all the way into the back but the girl is gone. Turned to atoms. Through the hatch she sees the planet breaking up. Clear looks at Kimleigh's chair. She grabs it and starts tearing at it, as though Kimleigh might be underneath it somewhere. A pulse from the exploding planet rocks outward and Hoopa is sent spinning... --- Clear wakes up suddenly. Something has jolted her awake. She squints her eyes and tries to make sense of what she is seeing. A beautiful woman comes down several astral-like steps towards her. Her boots are tall and yellow, her dress seems to be made of leather and is the same yellow as the boots, complimented by black. Her hair is white, like Clear's, and worn in ringlets that frame her pretty features. The woman kneels down. Ameryl: "My poor dear. Let me help you up. I am Ameryl, a commander in The Imperium. Welcome aboard the God Killer..." Category:Post Category:CatH Post